


A Year and A Day

by QwillReign



Category: Septimus Heap - Angie Sage
Genre: Book One: Magyk, Canonical Character Death, Family, Found Family, Gen, Ghosts, Grief/Mourning, Oneshot, POV Alther Mella, Sad, Sweet, The Rules of Ghosthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27981060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QwillReign/pseuds/QwillReign
Summary: In which the rules of ghosthood are just a little bit different.Alther dies, and then he Awakes.
Relationships: Alther Mella & Marcia Overstrand
Comments: 10
Kudos: 15





	1. Alther

Alther dies. 

He dies, and his last thoughts are of Marcia, who's parents are gone, who is like his own child. 

He is leaving her alone forever, Alther realizes. If Marcia makes it out of here, which he desperately hopes she will, she will be alone. He passes her the Amulet, tells her that she is the best one for the job, and, tells her he is proud. 

Alther drops on to the ground, hating the way that Marcia sobs, and pushes her towards the Queen, and the little baby princess who lays in her dead mum’s arms, crying. “Go,” Alther whispers, as he slips away into the abyss. 

Alther woke, blinking, and stared out into the darkness. He raised a hand, and saw it only by its own faint glow. He was a ghost, Alther realized. 

Ghosts were not unheard of in the Castle, but they were rare and unknown. A Ghost could watch forever, he knew from those who had bonded to them. But in order to see a ghost, it had to choose you. They could only choose one person at a time, and would be until that person’s death.

With an errant thought, Alther found himself in the Castle, and in his old rooms- Marcia’s rooms now. There she was, sleeping peacefully while he watched. There was a calendar on her bedstand, it showed something Alther was astonished by. 

It had been a Year and a Day since the attack, since he had died, and his daughter (not in name, but in heart, which was enough,) was sleeping in her old room. The extraordinary Aprenitice room was small, and even though she had continued to use it after she had completed her apprenticeship, Marcia really should have changed rooms by now. Goodness knows Alther had. Although, he thought, the situations were very different. 

A Year and a Day, he mused. She had to have moved on by now, or at least Alther certainly hoped so. Marcia had always bottled her emotions, and it wouldn’t surprise him if she was doing the same now. 

Marcia woke suddenly, and Alther backed away quickly, forgetting she could not see him, and stammered out an apology. Marcia did not respond, and Alther floated, which was quite enjoyable, actually, towards the kitchen to wait. 

But when he entered, the teapot, the stove, all of Marcia’s temperamental appliances, responded to him. Alther smiled at the familiar sight and had an idea. He told the kettle to start boiling, and the stove to light and begin frying Marcia an egg. 

She walked in, and smiled, before bursting into tears. Oh Dear. 

Then Alther remembered. He had done this for her so many times, it was almost habit. But for Marcia, it had been over a year since this happened. However dead, and out of touch, and old Alther was, he knew Marcia. He was hitting himself for having gone and reminded herself of something she had lost, him.

Then Marcia composed herself, and ate the eggs, smiling wistfully. Alther could see she was hurting, but he knew she had also accepted his loss. 

Alther had come with the intention of showing himself, of helping Marcia through life the way she had helped him find himself. But looking at her now, Alther thought that he would wait. She was mourning, appearing now would only add insult to her injury. She would never be able to mourn properly, and he could tell Marcia was doing as well as she could be in the moment. 

Perhaps if Alther had been able to appear sooner, or if Marcia had been expecting him, his choice would have been different. 

Now, he resolved himself to his life of ghosthood. He would wait for those he loved, and make sure that none of them became too overwhelmed. If he needed to, Alther would show himself. He could affect his surroundings a bit, he would be Marcia’s and Alice Nettle’s and Silas’s guardian ghost, and keep watch over them until it was no longer necessary. 

Sad but resolved, Alther floated off to visit with the hundreds of ghosts he had never met, and to check on his beloved, and on Silas and his family. He was, for the moment, content with being an unseen force of good until he could be one no longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! LMK what you thought in the comments! Do you like the premise?


	2. Marcia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alther dies, and Marcia cries.

Alther dies. 

He dies, and Marcia doesn’t know how she’ll survive. 

He dies, and he tells her to go. Those are his last words to her, to anyone. Alther is bleeding out, and she is holding him. And she is sobbing, but he is smiling. “Marcia,” Alther whispers, “Marcia, my daughter, I love you, but you must go.” She protests, and he pushes her away. 

For a moment, Marcia thinks Alther doesn’t want her here. She doesn’t even begin to process the fact that she has been called “daughter” until much later. But Marcia turns, and she sees the Queen, who has been shot, and Marcia lunges. She grabs the baby, who is alive, blessedly alive, and hears Alther take his last breath. 

Marcia runs. She runs to the wizard tower, where everyone is going about their day as if nothing had happened. As Alther wasn’t gone, as if Marcia didn’t have the baby princess in her arms. She burst into the tower, and the noise stopped. They were starring at her. Why were they staring? 

She realized that not only was she cradling the baby, but Alther had, apparently, placed the Akhu Amulet around her neck. Marcia was the Extraordinary now. She pushed her emotions to the back of her mind, and started preparing. 

When the night was over, and the Wizard Tower was secure, and the Princess was hidden, Marcia let go. 

SHe cried, and cried, and cried. She looked at Alther’s empty rooms, and she cried again. They were her rooms now. For a split second, Marcia thought about moving into them, they were hers now. But she couldn’t, and she didn’t. 

A month after Alther’s death, Marcia could hardly bear to be in the Extraordinary rooms, to wear the robes, to do the job that should be Alther’s.

Two months after Alther’s death, Marcia had stopped crying every night

Six months later, Marcia smiled occasionally. It was hard, but she was figuring it out. 

A year and a Day later, Marcia hadn’t cried about Alther in a full week. She was tired, and half asleep, and she entered her kitchen to a pre-made breakfast. 

For a second, Alther was back. For a second, Marcia could breathe. 

After that second, Marcia cried. Alther was not back, and would never be. She knew that, she really did, but it was so hard to stop hoping. 

When she was done, Marcia ate her breakfast, and thought she heard a sigh, a content, longing, wistful sigh. She turned, but nothing was there by the wind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this was a one-shot but it changed its mind, so have a tiny bit more. What do you think? Thanks for reading!


	3. Appearing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After so long waiting and watching, it's easier than you might think.

Alther had pondered Appearing to many different people, at many different times. The first time he had visited Silas, for example, and seen the baby girl with dark hair and violet eyes, he had wanted to hug the kind father and tell him of his baby Princess. The time Alice had sat crying in the warehouse over him, Alther had wanted to be able to hug her, to hold her close and whisper that he was there, he was not gone forever, but he knew that even visible, they would not be able to touch. 

It was hardest to see Marcia, yet Alther spent much of his time with her, offering a hopefully comforting presence, watching his adopted daughter (yes, he knew it wasn't official, no, he did not care one bit.) He was so proud of how she had risen to the occasion, had assumed command with intelligence and wit, and kept the Wizard Tower together. 

He watched as the Custodian guards took charge of his beloved castle, ruining all the good Alther had worked hard to create in the wake of DomDaniel. He watched the young army boys go through so much, and tried to Project good feelings to them whenever possible. It might not have actually worked, but Alther felt like he was doing something. It was enough. 

Well, no, It wasn’t enough, but it was all he could do, and he hated that helplessness. He wanted to Appear, to be able to provide tangible comfort to someone who was struggling. To Silas, who was working himself to the bone to feed his family, to Alice, who, although doing much better, he still had to watch mourn. To those Young Army boys, especially the one who’s friend had gone over the edge of the boat and had never been the same since. Alther had followed the boy who fell, and he was fine, but the poor blond child didn't know that. Alther longed to Appear to Marcia, his diligent successor, who was working so hard and nearly isolating herself in the process. 

He spoke to other ghosts on occasion, and while they were mostly very dry, a few of the more fun-loving ones had taught him to affect things. Alther used this only on occasion, as it was draining, very draining. 

But he also enjoyed how Marcia, never quite done grieving, but much better now, lit up when he set her breakfast going. Sometimes she would thank him, and he would send her a warm breeze, which he had learned to do through careful practice, and sent the young army children often. He followed them on their horrible exercises and kept the children as warm and happy as he could. He knew he shouldn't play favorites, but the boy who lost his friend was so sweet, and reminded him happily of Silas, with his eager acceptance of knowledge and occasional quiet defiance, although both were dimmed from years of mistreatment by the Young Army. 

Alther liked blowing photo albums to his favorite pictures, which never seemed to stop making Alice and Silas alike smile. He loved teasing the little Princess, who Silas and Sarah had named Jenna. It was a much better name than Mathilda, and Alther was glad for that. He amused the other young Heaps as well, and turned Simon’s books to the correct page when he struggled. 

Alther enjoyed the looks of amusement on their faces, and the Heap children had started to call him Grandpa Ghost when they noticed it wasn't just the wind. Alther was happy, and his family was happy too. He had no reason to Appear.

Until they weren't. 

Alther accompanied his family, minus Alice, who was at the Docks, (Thank goodness) to Zelda Heap’s cottage. He was nervous, and he did everything he could for them. It wasn't much, but he kept the fire going as long as possible and tried to comfort his family the best he could. Zelda had noticed him, and as soon as she mentioned it, the Heap Children, and eventually the young army boy (who turned out to be a Heap child too, and Alther really should have expected that), all started chatting with Grandpa Ghost again. He responded by fanning the flames, or passing through them, which always made Jenna giggle. But Alther did not appear. He would have had to choose one, and that would be unfair. 

He also watched Marcia, and when she decided to use the Midnight Minutes, he went ahead to wait for her. When he saw the guards waiting, Alther turned to flee back, determined to Appear and save his child. But then Marcia Transported, and she was captured. 

Deep in Dungeon Number One, where Marcia sat shivering, Alther sent breaths of warmth her way, and debated his options. 

When Marcia started crying softly, something she had not done in years, Alther Appeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This is done for good now, I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought! What was your favorite part?


End file.
